“What is it that you saw?”
“He swallowed a handful of green pills.”
I see his shock before he hides it with a deep nod. “A handful? You’re certain?”
“Very.”
“How many? Three? Seven?”
I shrug. “It was a brief flash. I saw him swallow a handful.”
“And you’re certain this was the most recent time?”
I flinch at the reminder. “Yes, I’m certain.”
“This is interesting. I’m sorry to do this to you, but we need to know exactly how many and where he got them. Can you go back and find out?”
Clausen is moving his rook, and the chessboard snaps into place in my head. I need to resist the temptation to take the rook and set up for the queen instead. “I want to help. But like I said, he was onto me. He knew why you sent me.”
The Director thinks for a moment. “Of course he would. How is your relationship with him?”
“What do you mean?”
“Do you think there’s a possibility you’ll be able to get close to him again? At least enough to gather the information we need to help him?”
“I don’t know. I guess it’s possible, but it might take time. Unfortunately, I doubt he’s worrying about re-establishing broken friendships when he’s locked up in a cell.”
Clausen shifts in his chair. Check.
“You make an interesting point. Maybe there’s a better way to approach this situation.” He pauses. “Thank you for your input. I’d like to discuss the circumstances with our senior staff, and we’ll get back to you about the next step.”
It kills me to delay another meeting with Daniel, especially when Clausen practically begged me to run back to him, but I’ve planted a seed that will reap much greater rewards.
“Does that mean I’m free to go for now?”
He nods with a tight smile. “Of course. Get some sleep. I’m sure we’ll have a better idea of how to help him shortly.”
Chapter 16: Survivor
“So you’re out of the cell and back in the closest.”
Daniel nods as I drop beside him. “I have you to thank, I suppose.”
“Is that you thanking me?”
“You want a fruit basket or something?”
“That would be nice. They gave you a book after all.”
Daniel’s gaze lingers on the open volume. “Yeah, boring as hell, but at least it’s something.”
I turn serious. “They want more details about the green pills. They want to know how many you took and where you got them.”
“Good.”
“My story rattled Clausen. He was very specific in his questions. He wants to know if I saw three or seven. What is it about these pills?”
Daniel quiets for a moment. “The green pills are a controlled narcotic they use to sedate me. Since they’re tightly controlled, there’s no way I could have had enough to overdose unless one of Clausen’s own gave them to me.”
